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Olympiakos vs PAOK and OFI vs PAO in semis

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos will face PAOK and Panathinaikos will clash with OFI Crete in the semifinals of the Greek Cup, after the quarterfinals on Wednesday and Thursday that ensured the favorites found their way through.

In the tightest of quarterfinal ties Olympiakos saw off Atromitos on the away goals rule, as it followed up a scoreless draw in Piraeus with a 1-1 result at Peristeri on Wednesday.

It took a second half penalty by Chori Dominguez for Olympiakos to cancel out Stathis Tavlaridis’s opener, in a game marred by poor refereeing.

PAOK scored its second 3-0 win over Apollon on Thursday, this time in Athens, courtesy of a brace by 17-year-old Efthymis Koulouris and a goal by Stefanos Athanasiadis.

Panathinaikos suffered on Wednesday a mini upset in the hands of second-division leader Olympiakos Volou going down 1-0 at Volos, but the first-leg 4-0 win gave the Greens a safe passage through to the semis. Costas Kapetanos scored for the Volos club.

OFI made it two wins out of two over Panionios, topping its 2-0 home victory with a 2-1 defeat of the host at Nea Smyrni on Thursday, to set up a clash with Panathinaikos after the two sides also met for the league on February 1. Giorgos Makris and Dudu Cearense scored for the Iraklio team, Dimitris Kolovos had equalized for Panionios.

OFI and Olympiakos will host the first-leg games for the semifinals on March 19-20, with the return matches on April 16-17. The final will take place on April 26.

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